Scanning the horizon with his binoculars as he rode in the first vehicle of the convoy, Colonel Lucas Benoit of the Dark Marines noticed a small cluster of buildings to the right. His eyes widened as he caught his first glimpse of civilization in this vast part of the wasteland. He looked again to make sure it wasn't some cruel joke, but it was still there.

"Driver, bring us to those buildings at our four 'o'clock! And signal the convoy to prepare to dismount; we've found something," Lucas pointed in the direction of the building and the driver quickly got on the radio and signaled the rest of the convoy. Lucas prepared his rifle and put on his gas mask as he thought to himself. For miles all Lucas had seen was dust and the occasional hill or crater; this made the buildings a very welcome site.

We've found something. Thank god we've finally found something.

When they arrived Lucas jumped out of the truck, the dirt crunching under his boots as he aimed his rifle at the nearest building. He could hear the APC's doors opening and the marines bursting out. The combined noise of their boots and the roar of the engines made a very intimidating sound; one that made Lucas sorry for anyone in those buildings. They took positions and aimed their weapons at the buildings, ready for anything. They waited for the five vehicle convoy to slow to a halt and give cover to the marines. Their only tank, dubbed the 'Cerebus', aimed its gun towards the buildings waiting to launch its heavy ordnance if given the order. The entire dark marines force waited for a few minutes to see if anyone, or anything, would reveal itself from the structures, but nothing came. Realizing it was safe, Lucas gave his orders.

"Okay let's move it marines I want a full scan of the perimeter and if anything moves shoot it! Watch out for radiation and mines now move it!"

The marines shouted their replies and the men spread out in perfect formation. The sergeants led their squads forward cautiously,scanning the shattered windows for any signs of movement. Even traveling through a barren desert for weeks hasn't hurt their coordination and skill. Lucas would be glad to tell them that they wouldn't be traveling any longer. This was their new home whether they liked it or not. It had to be; they had no choice. None of them did.

Marco sat in the Armoured Personnel Carrier, inspecting his Hunting Shotgun. It was a beautiful piece of weaponry, capable of removing the head of any foe, so long as they were close enough. Marco sat up as he heard instructions. His Gloria was obstructing his view and so Marco couldn't directly see who was issuing the command, but it was to "lock and load". Marco smiled. A familiar command. Marco then readjusted Gloria and pulled his gas mask over her. It was horribly hot, but Marco had no problem with that.

Marco followed his fellow marines from the APC. The marines lined up and aimed their weapons towards a cluster of small buildings. This was not the type of situation Marco liked. If anything emerged from the buildings, Marco would be too far away to do much damage. Thankfully his fellow marines were very competent and organised, and Marco could probably use them as a distraction and get in close.

Marco glanced at Colonel Benoit. The Colonel swept the buildings with his rifle as a five vehicle convey pulled in close. The Colonel nodded and turned to the Marines.

"Okay let's move it marines I want a full scan of the perimeter and if anything moves shoot it! Watch out for radiation and mines now move it!" Marco grinned behind his assortment of masks.

"I'd love to see a Nightkin" he bellowed before making sure his Thermic Lance was in a easy to reach location and charging towards the buildings.

As Jonathan crawled his way into,he noticed Marco in a mask he named "Gloria" on him,he named his AK-47 Zasha,after his girlfriend he had left behind in Toronto,she had died in the Burning.

"LETS MOVE LETS MOVE!" Barked a unknown voice,probably a NCO.The men got formed around the building,he checked with his Geiger Counter radiation,it showed up a normal 0.7

Some Wounds never heal...... he thought to himself

But he soon snapped back to reality,he could see markings this is,or was,a raider encampment,because of the Spray Painted mushroom clouds and all.

"Keep Frosty! Raiders might be inside!" He yelled

Maximus grabbed his M21 and scoped ahead, hoping he would find some sort of foe to gun down. His mind was full of excessive thoughts about his past, and although it was at first his betrayal to the Enclave something else was consuming his rage. His cousin Anthony Gambetti was in charge of The Gambetti Crime family and Anthony promised Maximus wealth and glory if he was to join his cousins ranks. But Maximus pondered at thought of it and knew his destiny belonged to the Dark Marines a group of people that accepted him for who he was. He glared around, his eyes fixated on his fellow troopers who were all focused on the task at hand. He proceeded towards Colonel Benoit the respected leader of the Marines. The Colonel was also a help mentally as he would advise his soldiers on things that were unsettling them.

"Colonel, this may be my last the day with the Marines. My cousin he's promised me wealth and glory, something I have craved for a long time. I know the prospect of a thriving culture in this place seems unlikely he seemed confident when I was reading his letter. I just want to know what your input in all of this is."

Maximus knew the Colonel was listening to him but was more concerned with the task at hand so he decided to complete the mission first. Marcus got into position and peered through the scope as he slowly moved in. He saw a ghoul on the top floor by the window seemingly glaring at the soldiers.

"This one's mine boys, I've been waiting all week to kill one of these."

He shouted as he plunged the bullet into the Ghoul's skull. As the team began moving in Marcus reloaded his rifle and planned to do what was necessary to maintain his position as the teams finest Sniper.

The gas mask that hung from Jade's hip bounced up and down as the tank "Cerebus" rumbled over the barren terrain. As she sat on the top of tank she scanned around her, there was nothing but barrens and dust. Through the shimmering dust and sand she could see brake lights on the lead vehicle of the convoy. Jade jerked forward a little as the tank stopped, scanning she saw it, a cluster of buildings in the distance. The convoy started moving again, checking her rifle and pistol where ready she stood up on top of the tank as it rolled into the building complex. As the tank stopped she hopped down and aimed at the buildings.

"Okay let's move it marines I want a full scan of the perimeter and if anything moves shoot it! Watch out for radiation and mines now move it!"

Zoey slung her rifle over her back and un holstered her pistol

"I'd love to see a Nightkin" Marco belted out as he charged towards a building

"Nice and civilised i see Marco!" Jade shouted after him. Jade jogged for another building, a taller one to be precise

"Going up top boss" She said as she ran past Lucas, the dark marines leader.

Pushing her way through what looked like a shop of some sort it had scrap metal and other kinds of junk that could possibly be used for repairs. The ladder she climbed up creaked and bits of dust fell as she opened the hatch to the roof. On the roof she found an old table andd chair with some empty beers she then scanned the rest of the waste through the scope of her rifle she saw Maximus down below taking a shot at a ghoul, she disliked him, he was Enclave. But she would work with him, she had to, he also seemed to think he was the Marines best Sniper not while I'm around your not she thought to herself. Jade got on the comm link to Lucas

"Boss, I think there may be people coming back, im seeing signs of life i'll keep watch from up here over" Looking south through her rifle she saw what appeaared to be a group of people

"Lucas, possible hostiles, south half a mile out they look armed i am cleared for a shot on your go" Jade redied her rifle and breathed slowly waiting for the order to fire.

Quinn Sweeney

Quinn emerged from the APC, FN Minimi -- or Minnie, for short -- in his hands, with all the rest of his equipment slung around his back, which was covered with a teflon flak jacket, just in case. He didn't want anyone shooting all the C4 in his bag. The area they had just found was big enough to house all of them, and after their captain emerged, he barked his first order in what had to have been at least a week.

"Okay let's move it marines I want a full scan of the perimeter and if anything moves shoot it! Watch out for radiation and mines now move it!"

Quinn silently, followed orders, heading to all the smallest places first, especially the diner to the left of him. He immediately felt the urge to stop and rest on solid ground for what seemed to be too long, but first things first, Quinn needed to secure the perimeter. He swept past the gas station as well as a small garage and shop, already seeing others heading through it. He had only seen one person infiltrate the big building, which is where he headed. The small group was now talking amongst each other, and he was hearing outbursts from all over as he placed his gas mask snugly on his face. RIght before he entered the building's doors, he heard a gun shot. Upon looking back he noticed that it was just Maximus taking care of one of the many irradiated beasts among the wastes.

Upon heading upstairs, he'd found some 5.56 ammo, some caps, and even a couple cans of food, which he stuffed in his bag before heading downstairs. besides the occasional radroach and two mole rats, he had really nothing to shoot at. But, he did notice there was a metal door at the bottom of the building, except it was locked. He went to tell Lucas about his discovery.

"Sir, there's a locked metal door not far into the entrance of that large building behind me. I suggest we get the door open so we could investigate further, not saying we can't put it off till after a night's sleep."

As the marines combed the area, Lucas was getting updates from every driver in the convoy as they cut their engines. He was sure that if anyone was here they would have fired already so he was less cautious in his movements. As he finished with the vehicles he heard a shout from one of the buildings.

"Keep Frosty! Raiders might be inside!"

This didn't surprise Lucas as raiders were a simple fact of life in the wastes. No matter where you were in the world people always had a knack for killing each other and taking whatever other people had. A simple fact of life in the wastes. He saw one of his sergeants approach him. It was Maximus, sniper rifle and all.

"Colonel, this may be my last the day with the Marines. My cousin, he's promised me wealth and glory, something I have craved for a long time. I know the prospect of a thriving culture in this place seems unlikely he seemed confident when I was reading his letter. I just want to know what your input in all of this is."

Lucas was listening closely even though he appeared to be busy; hearing what Maximus had said really bothered Lucas. Not only because Maximus was a skilled member with precious experience with advanced tech, but because of what he planned to tell the group later. Lucas made a mental note to talk with him personally. As Lucas was about to reply, Maximus raised his rifle at a nearby window.

"This one's mine boys, I've been waiting all week to kill one of these." Maximus' words were followed by a shot from his rifle and the sound of a body crashing to the ground.

Lucas hadn't even seen the ghoul, let alone been able to shoot him. Maximus proudly lived up to his title of 'best shot in the dark marines' with displays like this but he also has the advantage of the top-notch military training of the Enclave which gave the rest of the snipers a disadvantage but not by much. Lucas only wished he had the skills that they brought to the table. Brushing aside his lack of his snipers' eagle eyes Lucas brought his attention to yet another soldier running up to him. This time it was Sweeney one of the marines specialists.

"Sir, there's a locked metal door not far into the entrance of that large building behind me. I suggest we get the door open so we could investigate further, not saying we can't put it off till after a night's sleep."

"Good find Quinn, but as you've already guessed we're a tad to busy to be blasting doors but once things have settled down we can get to work on--"

Lucas was interrupted by the yell of one of his other snipers. Sergeant Jade was perched on top of one of the buildings looking through her weapon's scope into the distance.

"Lucas, possible hostiles, south half a mile out they look armed I am cleared for a shot on your go"

Lucas called Maximus and Quinn to follow as he sprinted to a ladder that lead to the roof.

"How many are we talking Sergeant, I need details!" Lucas quickly climbed the ladder, shouting orders all the way.

"Marines, defensive positions! Possible hostiles to the south! Get that water truck behind cover we can't afford that to get hit now move!"

Lucas watched as the marines sprung into life sprinting for cover. The water truck's engine roared to life and took cover behind the diner. They couldn't afford to lose that water to some stray bullet poking a whole into it's tank. Watching that water pour onto the ground would be like watching their entire lives turning to dust. Lucas reached the top of the building and walked up to Jade.

"What does it look like out their Jade?" Lucas' heart began to beat faster as the hint of combat came into view. This would be the first in a long line of conflicts to defend their home and Lucas didn't want to lose anyone this early on.

Henry watched as several squads of marines secured the perimeter and pondered how much longer they would be able to roam about in this manner. If the Marines didn't find somewhere to settle down soon, attrition would whittle them down to nothing. As he took his first steps out of the APC Henry immediately heard orders to take up defensive positions.

It seemed no matter where they went, conflict always found them. However, he could also say that the Dark Marines had never yet faltered against a foe and hopefully they never would. In circumstances like these Henry liked to let the grunts take care of the fighting so he took cover behind the diner along with the water truck where he could help coordinate a defense with his radio set.

He also helped make several runs back and forth from the APC to get the ammo crates set up and ready to resupply any marine in need of more ammo. The dust kicked up from all the activity made Henry cough as he tried to clear his throat from the ball of mud that seemed to have taken root there. He gulped down a single mouthful of precious water, which felt like a ball of mud, and strapped on his mask where he would be protected from the dust.

In potential combat situations like these preparation was crucial and Henry made no delay in helping to deploy a few thick slabs of steel and concrete, ballistic shields which made for good temporary cover on the go. As he hefted the heavy crates and shields around he watched in awe as one of their marine snipers picked off a ghoul with deadly accuracy. Causing it to tumble over to the ground with a ghastly expression on its face.

His marksmanship was certainly impressive and Henry could never hope to match it. To be able to take a life at such a distance was almost unfair, just as his father never saw the bullet blow his brains across Henry's face, the ghoul had no idea that it would die in such an abrupt manner.

Truly, those marines were the kind of men they would need to survive out in the wastes. For now however, Henry's job now was far less glamorous but no less important. He would get the honor of spotting targets for Cerberus through his radio set. "Cerberus! This is tech sergeant Laroque here! We have incoming targets from the south, standby for target orders!"

Jade listened to Lucas's commands looking through the scope she could feel men approaching behind her, she knew it was Lucas and some other marines. Jade was told to count numbers but she'd give Lucas more than that, Jade spoke in a hushed tone as she was concentrating but her Australian accent was still audible to those in he immediate vicinity specifically Lucas

"fifteen... Seventeen... Twenty one... Twenty six... Thirty two, thirty two hostiles fifteen Chinese assault rifles, one sniper rifle, ten regular assualt rifles" Jade still spoke quietly and audibly for those around her, she fiddled with the dials on he scope before speaking again

"three pump action shotguns, one hunting rifle and on middle launcher with two... No three spare missiles. They have an assortment of grenades some have plasma and what looks like a few incendiary mostly frags. Looks like a raiding party they are headed this way so I guess this is their place." Jade turned to Lucas to say something then turned back to the scope

"hang on, make that thirty three hostile's one with pistol, whip and rope he has two slaves with him sir, all in all thirty three hostile two possible friendly" Jade placed her rifles bi-pod on the low wall and shoulderd it ready for the recoil

"cleared for a shot on your go sir prioratize a target I'll take them down first"

"Nice and civilised I see Marco!" Jade shouted as they began their infiltration. Marco had always liked Jade. She seemed honest and damn good at her job. Jade descended into a building. Marco continued past, keeping his eyed peels for anything moving. He kept a brisk pace, not a great decision when entering a completely alien scrum of buildings that could be filled with any number of highly armed crackpots, but Marco was in his comfort soon when slicing the arms from a Raider with his Thermic Lance.

"Marines, defensive positions! Possible hostiles to the south! Get that water truck behind cover we can't afford that to get hit now move!" Marco heard Lucas roar from behind him. He turned and saw that he was ahead of the rest of his marines. Yes, I've ventured too far Marco thought to himself and chuckled. From the lack of any form of life in the cluster of old buildings, Marco assumed it was just an old town, perhaps filled with the old dirty water.

As he began jogging back towards his Colonel Marco saw something flicker from the side of his eye. He immediately fell to the ground and pushed up against the closest thing resembling cover, which was an old rusted shack. He pressed up next to it and silently observed the direction where he thought he saw movement. After about half a minute of hearing nor seeing a thing, Marco moved from the shack and looked back in the direction of his team. He saw Jade.

Oh [censored] Marco thought before once more throwing his huge body to the ground. Jade was aiming at a building, a look of steely, nervous concentration on her face. She had spotted something. Lucas was perched next to her, and Jade was whispering to him. Marco looked back towards the half ruined building where he thought he saw something earlier. He slowly crept towards it, concentrating deeply on not shuffling. He entered the building and as he was reaching for his Thermic Lance he heard a fit of coughing come from the room adjacent to him.

"[censored] cigarettes," a deep, husky voice said through the fit of coughing. Marco snaked towards the door separating the two rooms with his Thermic Lance clutched tightly in his hands. Gotta keep this quiet, or else I could get the whole team killed. Marco silently pushed himself against a wall and peered in the room. A man dressed in Raider Blastmaster armour was sitting on a small pile of rubber and observing a syringe of what seemed to be jet. Marco pulled back and mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do. Just as he was about to charge at the Raider the wall Marco was supporting himself on caved in. Marco fell to the ground in the second room. He jumped up and looked at the Raider at the other side of the room before removing his shotgun.

The Raider jumped in surprise and turned to Marco, grabbing a 10mm pistol from beside him.

"What the fu---?" Marco unloaded two shotgun shells on him, the sound ringing loudly through the buildings.

Jonathan,who was outside at the time,checking for Radiation leaks or a "Dirty Bomb" then,he heard a sniper shot,then a breach,then some shots inside the building.Then,he sent a Private up to check the corner,the Private http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRsCOZNYfNIQGgdDIWGk3Nxoe17nkrVO12SaVlDOSnOB7nBVb_YmQ&t=1.Jonathan bended the corner,unloading a entire mag on the assailant.

"PERIMETER SECURED!" he shouted.

Shocked over the obscene death of one of his soldiers,he looked over the body,he yanked the dog-tags off the dead Private and muttered,

"Rest in peace kid."

As he managed the ground troops below, Lucas was being given details on the approaching group by Jade. She sparred no expense in detail for Lucas needed to know everything about the group because the one thing that they didn't know, the one thing they weren't prepared for, that's what would kill his soldiers. But Jade knew that and that's what made her one of the best of his Sergeants.

"Fifteen... Seventeen... Twenty one... Twenty six... Thirty two, thirty two hostiles fifteen Chinese assault rifles, one sniper rifle, ten regular assualt rifles. Three pump action shotguns, one hunting rifle and on middle launcher with two... No three spare missiles. They have an assortment of grenades some have plasma and what looks like a few incendiary mostly frags. Looks like a raiding party they are headed this way so I guess this is their place."

The veteran sniper adjusted her scope for maximum accuracy at the specific range as she aimed for the shot.

"Good work Sergeant and wait for my mark. We get all of our snipers up here to fire simultaneously to hide our numbers so hold the shot and give me updates."


Lucas walked towards the edge of the building and used hand motions to update the squad leaders on the situation. He signaled for all snipers to report on the roof and to be as quiet as possible; the raiders wouldn't know what hit them. He gave the last signal and walked towards a small table and reached in his rucksack. He pulled out a radio and microphone from his rucksack and proceeded to set them up on the table. The convoy had a few short distance radios that used solar power to work but most were large and clunky, but his was small and more portable for him being a higher rank.

I have to admit command sure has its perks.

Brushing these thoughts aside he tuned into the 'Cerebus' frequency and spoke into the microphone.

"'Cerebus' this is the Colonel we have approximately 30 hostiles inbound from the south do you copy? Over."

After all these years the marines still communicated over the radio as the army that they were descended from did before the war. After all of this they had still stuck to their roots; they knew who they were and nothing could change that.

Some things never change I guess.

Lucas waited for a response but was disturbed by two shots going off near one of the other buildings. He quickly sprang up, almost knocking over his chair, and rushed to the edge of the building. Silence wasn't and option anymore and he yelled out to his troops who were looking around in confusion, not knowing who fired the shot.

"What the hell is going on down there! Sergeants find the shooter and and see if anyones down, now go damn it!"

Lucas wasn't usually this harsh with the men but the stress was getting to him. Incoming hostiles and shots going off right under their noses. It was probably just another ghoul but it still pissed Lucas off. Silence was silence; they should have called it in or taken it out quietly. He was wrong, the trip did hurt their coordination, he just hoped it didn't cost anyone their lives. He walked back to Jade who was still looking through her scope, Maximus by her side. Their concentration was not even shaken by the shooting behind them. Lucas walked towards them for an update but was cut off by yet another few shots. He turned around knowing something was wrong and sprinted to the edge of the building for the third time.

"Sergeants I need a sit rep now! Those raiders or going to be up our ass in minutes and we're firing shots off like it's nobodies business! Who the hell is shooting!"

Lucas was furious, a combination of stress and impatience from the last few weeks exploded out of him. He turned from his men, not wanting them to see him like this and grabbed his binoculars. He brought them to his eyes and saw the raiders running towards the marine's at full speed.

"Snipers open fire! Try to avoid the slaves but if their in the way kill them."

Lucas knew that they needed those slaves to interrogate later on but now wasn't the time. The raiders were gaining ground and the marine's were barely ready for them. He trusted his sniper's skills but not even they could stop that amount of hostiles in time and not even the tank could adjust their aim in time. Some marines were going to die today.

Quinn Sweeney

"Good find Quinn, but as you've already guessed we're a tad to busy to be blasting doors but once things have settled down we can get to work on--"

Lucas stopped in mid-sentence, noticing the barrage of bloodthirsty men and women headed their way. His chest radio chirped.

"Lucas, possible hostiles, south half a mile out they look armed I am cleared for a shot on your go."

After that Lucas called for Quinn and another soldier, Maximus, to follow him as they jogged towards the roof of the tallest building. Once the information was shared between the sergeant and the captain, Quinn knew what was needed of him and followed Lucas' knew and expected orders: Kill the enemy.

Quinn walked to Maximus, hoping he was willing to cooperate. "Watch my back," was all he said before unholstering Minnie for the battle to come Once down, he spat out about twenty rounds, ten each on both of the rocket launcher wielding maniacs, then another five on some girl with an assault rifle. Now that the enemy had some decent running room, he dropped his light machine gun and grabbed some C4, appropriately reconfiguring the wires and rearranging the sockets until the button was lit and ready to press. Once he saw the red light glow to life, he chucked the C4, waiting for the right time to take out at least half of the whole crew.

Now, detonator in hand, he waited, counting down 'till the right moment.

Ten...nine...eight...seven...

Henry had only just managed to set up the last of the ballistic shielding when he heard one of their snipers, Jade, shout out, "Thirty three hostiles!"

The word was spreading quickly amongst the marines. That was a large number of people for the rapidly dwindling marines to face. If they were ever going to continue they couldn't lose a single man. They had attacked the compound with remarkable speed and efficiency, already clearing out most of the raiders left behind to guard the location.

Now was the tricky part, if the raiders found out they were here then they would spread out and attack in a much more prepared fashion. This would negate their chance to mow them down all in one go. They could only take cover now and hope that the raiders had not discovered them yet.

Suddenly a few shots rang out and many of the raiders hit the deck as sniper rounds started to go over their heads. The rookie raiders were quickly dispatched but Henry could see almost twenty raiders, likely veterans, who had survived the sniper volley and was no quickly advancing on his position.

One of their .50 cal MGs were still setting up and the crew was quickly forced to abandon their efforts as a raider bullet hit the crew leader in the shoulder. Blood spurted out over the dusty pavement and the rest of the crew quickly scrambled to get him to safety. This left a slight gap in the defensive line however, and several raiders quickly sprinted at the gap.

Unfortunately, this led directly to the diner, and behind it, the water truck! The only people available to defend it was the support crew, which included Henry. With no time to waste Henry rounded together a medic, another technician, as well as the truck driver to the defense. Sweat was starting to choke him inside of his mask as Henry scrambled to take up the abandoned gun position.

"Hit them with whatever you have!" He shouted as he unloaded steady bursts of fire at the raiders with his sten gun. The others were contributing fire with their submachine guns as well but the support crew clearly did not have enough firepower to match the assault rifles of the raiders.

A volley of incoming rounds sent them all flying to the floor as the raiders constantly advanced. If the raiders could keep them pinned long enough then they would be within grenade range soon.

"We have to hold this position at all costs!"

"Snipers open fire! Try to avoid the slaves but if their in the way kill them."

That was all Jade needed, She wasn't going to shoot a slave she couldn't vouch for others though. Keeping her breathing steady she took the hostile sniper as the priority target, he was her main threat and once her main threat was eliminated she could concentrate on helping the rest of the team. The hostile sniper turned and ran back wards from them to easily three quarter's of a mile out, holding her breath she aimed just ahead of where he was running, breathed out and squeezed the trigger a loud boom from the muzzle of her rifle echoed through the complex and a second later the enemy sniper took the .308 round straight through the back of the neck. Sliding the bolt on her weapon she loaded another round, aimed and took fire and another raider hit the deck. Jade continued to unload rounds at the Raiders but they were fast, she dropped four raiders with her next three shots, reloading the raider's had reached the complex and Quinn had placed his C4 in the wrong place, the raiders had flanked them

"Qui... [censored]!" Leaning over the wall Jade placed a round through a raider who had gotten behind Quinn

"QUINN! they've flanked to the right! shift fire position!" The gunfire had gotten so crazy she needed to shout to him despite him being about twenty feet away. Jade clocked some raiders moving toward the diner and saw Henry move to intercept and protect the water truck she turned to the marines on the roof

"You! On me! the rest of you shift firing positions they've flanked!" Jade ran to watch Henry's squad take a beating from the Superior assault rifles as Jade readied her rifle the Marine she had called over opened fire on Henry's assailants as did Jade, gunning down three of them as the marine with her got two more. As she slammed a fresh clip home into the powerful bolt action rifle two of the raider's turned and opened fire on Jade and the Marine, Jade ducked in time but the Marine took a few rounds to the chest

"[censored]! Stay with me Marine, you two covering fire!" Jade rounded up two more Marines to provide some cover while she dragged the marine back a bit further onto the roof. Jade grabbed some forceps and some pliers and jerked three bullets out of his chest while after wards slapping him and shouting at him to stay awake she then jabbed a Med-x and a Stimpack into him, satisfied he was stabilized she drafted another marine to take him down into the shop while she carried on returning fire.

Jonathan, seeing the Marines inside, he quickly led his squad to watch the outside, to watch the desert.

"We need to watch that way! They might try and counter attack!" he yelled

Then, a blast from the window came down, killing 2 of his men and wounding him.

"[censored]!" he screamed.

The marines inside, we're going to get all the credit, but he watched the wasteland, just incase.

THANK YOU FOR SPACING INFANTRY121! You still need to work on length, but thats not something that I'll press you for...

Quinn Sweeney

Three...Two...

"Quinn! They've flanked to the right! shift fire position!"

Quinn looked up at her, freeing his plans momentarily to give her his partially divided attention. He calculated the enemy wouldn't get to him in nearly enough time, but apparently he was wrong because there was a dead body right next to him, and it wasn't theirs. Upon gazing the field he realized they had flanked him, over passing his C4. He would need to move it, but first he needed to get to it. There were a good eighteen raider's left, and ten of them had all surged to the right into the plaza, while the other eight had gone for the water tank where Lucas had been dragged after a crippling shot. They had themselves covered, but Jade wouldn't be ale o take down all ten of these freaks, so he grabbed his LMG made emptied a box full of shells on the group, felling a good chunk before his gun jammed. Now there were three left, so he smacked the closest one in the face with the side of his weapon then dropped it, running for the water tank with his pistol in hand for Cpl. Laroque.

He didn't need to speak, so he just started shooting.

Marco scrambled to his feet. He ran from the ruined building and, as he was running over the threshold, began hearing fire from across the the cluster of buildings. Jesus, I hope no one dies because of me. Marco began his sprint towards the sounds of gunfire. As he rounded the building that the shack Marco had recently used as cover was attached to, he saw a massive group of raiders charging towards the marines. Quinn was cutting into them with his light machine gun and Maximus was pulling headshots from behind him. Marco investigated the area for a place to intercept the horde. From behind them a misplaced shot could result in the harming of a marine. He saw an alley in between two buildings and made his way towards it.

As he emerged from the alley Marco noticed a small band of three raiders, staring into the open in the direction ahead of them, giving Marco a great opportunity to hit them from behind. The raiders seemed to be talking hurriedly amongst each other. One shouted. Marco got low and began moving towards them as quickly as possible. The raiders began moving, towards the direction the marines were attempting to hold. As they disbanded Marco saw one of them was clutching a missile launcher. Oh no. I've got to.. Marco broke into a sprint. As he neared the raiders he equipped the lance. The sprint wasn't exactly silent and the three raiders turned to Marco. He thrust the thermic lance at the throat of the missile launcher wielder, tearing his neck apart.

One of the raiders wearing sadist armour grabbed a hunting rifle from his back holster. Marco released the thermic lance as the saw was stuck in the first raider's throat. Marco jumped at the sadist raider and mounted all his strength behind his fist. He threw a punch and it connected with the raider, knocking him to the ground.

Marco turned and saw the final raider pointing a shotgun at him. He dived just as the raider shot, dodging the shell. He steadily got to his feet and charged. He knocked the raider down before he could fire on Marco. As he fell the raider dropped his shotgun. Marco grabbed him around the neck using his arm. With his free hand he picked up the fallen shotgun. Caravan shotgun. BOOM. The raider's head exploded in a sickening yet rather satisfying shower of blood.

Marco collapsed and began laughing. "Easy" he yelled to nobody, as he was surrounded by three dead bodies. Wait, three dead bodies? Marco looked around and saw the sadist raider aiming at Marco with the hunting rifle. Marco leaped up and pointed the shotgun at the raider. The shotgun erupted just as the hunting rifle did. The raider fell to the ground. Marco sighed in relief, but as he did he felt a searing pain from his chest. He looked down to examine it and noticed a fresh bullet hole. It didn't hit my heart or I'd by dead. Pretty sure it didn't hit a lung, Marco thought as he once again collapsed.

Maximus fixated his eyes upon the hostiles, scoping them out as he and Jade disposed of them quickly.. But what Maximus knew was that Raider's went in packs, so the first batch were only the beginning. He sprinted to the left and stopped by a hollow rock, he would maintain his position here. "I gotta' focus, I know I can do this." He whispered to himself, trying to gain the self confidence of his earlier show. He zoomed in, he accounted for variable humidity and bullet trajectory. His suspicions were confirmed, there were more Raiders coming from the west side. He pressed the trigger and plunged the bullet through the raiders skull, showing his ability and skill as the teams biggest asset. Maximus and Jade were very distant, they both wanted to be considered the teams primary sniper but they could not better each other. Maximus focused once more, he disposed of the three other Raider's that followed the first one as he had taken out the first group of them.

He fell on to the floor, puffing madly as the heat was unbearable. He dropped his rifle and buried his head within his knees. He began to hallucinate, seeing former members of his troops within the Enclave. His mindset was not right and it was starting to affect his position as a member of the Dark Marines. He shook his head and got rid of these images, hoping he wasn't going insane. He held his rifle firmly and proceeded to walk back to the base. The vivid images that consumed his mind were still there, his wife, his son and his troops. He felt an overwhelming feeling as he his steps became smaller and smaller. He saw Lucas commanding the the troops on the ground below. Maximus respected Lucas and knew he was a ambitious commander but Maximus could no longer withstand the affects of fighting this war. If he was going to survive this he'd need someone to help him in counselling sessions and as far as he was aware no one possessed that ability in the Marines.

"Colonel, I need you a minute."

He shouted in a raspy voice, hoping his commander would help him. Maximus confided in his master and without his guidance he would be nothing. He waited for the Colonel to walk over to him that's if he wasn't busy. Maximus didn't seem to care that the Colonel was helping the troops below, but that was just part of his ego. Maximus sat down on a rock and awaited for someone to help him. It seemed he was holding something back, some sort of guilt that was trapped inside of him and he needed to release it. So he waited patiently for the Colonel or someone on the team to approach him, because he couldn't do this alone. He needed someones help, someone with experience.

From the roof Jade carried on returning fire to the raider's, their numbers where thinning but they where still fighting strong

"GRENADE!" a Marine shouted as a fragmentation grenade landed on the roof, Jade dived for it and lobbed it back of the roof towards the raider's, there was a low thud and a scream from a raider as the grenade went off. Looking up Jade fired one more round and heard an audible shout among the gunfire

"EASY" Looking across the way she could see Marco surrounded by three dead bodies, then she noticed the raider pointing a hunting rifle at Marco raising her rifle she scoped in on the raider and pulled the trigger click sliding back the bolt an empty bullet casing flew outand there was no other round inserted to the chamber

"[censored]! MARCO!" looking up she saw Marco and the raider shoot each other at the same time, the raider fell to a shotgun he wasnt getting up but Marco stood for a second and then fell. Slinging the rifle over her back she took out her silenced USP.45 leaping over the low wall of the roof she dropped a good eight feet and landed in a roll, sprinting as fast as she could she made her way to Marco. When she was ten feet away she slid across the dirt. Ahead of her she could see another raider running straight out of the slide and past Marco she jumped before the raider had a chance to react and jabbed on of her knifes into his throat. Running back to Marco she re sheathed the knife and knelt by Marco's side

"Marco, stay with me wake the [censored] up!" leaning down to his mouth he felt breath against her cheek, he was still breathing. Placing her hand under his back she couldn't feel an exit wound, lucky considering it was a .308 round and close range. Pulling out her foreceps she pryed open the bullet hole and reached in with her pliers, from what she could tell the bullet was lodged somwhere between his heart and left lung, as she began to pull at the bullet a grenade went of close by, she leaned over Marco to avoud dirt and debris getting in the bullet hole which instead showered down on her back. Steadily pulling the bullet she held her breath. The bullet finally came out with a slight svcking sound.


"C'mon wake for [censored]s sake!" She looked at Marco and then began to apply a field dressing to the wound. Grabbing him by the arms she dragged him behind some cover and injected him with a med-x and a stimpack, hoping that his body wouldn't reject morphine from the med-x. She slightly tapped him on the side of the face

"Wake up Marco, c'mon, now!"

The raiders were almost upon he and his men but luckily some of the others had seen their plight and picked several of them off with well aimed shots. Henry quickly got back up and fired another burst of rounds into the rocky area directly in front of him where the raiders had planned to flank them from. He noticed behind him that one of the demolitions specialists, Quinn Sweeney, had arrived to back him up against the few raiders that were left in front of them.

He shouted to the motley crew that had gathered around him, "Jensen! Keep them pinned! Baron, Sweeney, we can try to get around them and hit them from up close!" They couldn't match the raiders firepower with their handguns and personal defense weapons but if they could close the distance then they could hopefully negate their advantage.

They outnumbered the raiders but the majority of their marines were elsewhere along the perimeter. It was up to them to take care of the situation on the flank. Henry charged out from his position of cover along with several other marines. Pvt. Jensen and the snipers up on the rooftop gave him enough cover fire to run around some desert shrubs and get within 20ft of the raider position.

Bullets were flying everywhere but this gave him the advantage of a thick dust cloud. However, if also worked both ways. He was hiding in a slight depression on the ground where if he pressed himself tightly to the ground, he was near invisible to the raiders. However it didn't give him a very good shot.

Perhaps the other men in his unit had a shot on the raiders. "Anyone got a shot on those bastards!" Henry slowly inched up along the ground trying to get a sight of the raiders. His chance to prove himself would come very soon.

Lucas had gotten down from the top of the building minutes ago and was leading a squad of troops against the raiders. He and five other marines, one being a sergeant, were meeting the raiders head on in a furious firefight. The squad was taking cover behind a small concrete wall of what once made up the wall of a building and were taking heavy fire. Luckily most of the raiders split off in different direction leaving it much easier for the marines to pick them off individually. Lucas counted six raiders in front of them, give or take. He peeked over the wall and could see the large rock that the raiders were using for cover and nearly had his head shot off by an assault rifle. The trooper beside Lucas was blind firing with his own assault rifle to no effect.

"They've got us pinned and the only way we're taking them out is with explosives. Do any of you have a have a grenade; C4 will work to."

The troopers looked at each other except for one who grabbed three grenades from his belt. Standard frag grenades, exactly what they needed.

"Okay hand 'em over."

Lucas grabbed two of the grenades leaving one for the soldier, Lucas gave the other to the marine to his left and grabbed hold of the pin.

"On three. One. Two. Three."

The three soldiers pulled the pins and counted in their heads to two and through the grenades. The last thing they needed was the raiders throwing the grenades back at them. They could hear yelling from the raiders and waited for the explosions. They heard a muffled explosion which was immediately followed by a much louder one. They heard screams and crying; they were silenced by the last explosion. The marines hopped over the wall and charged aiming their guns at the rock. A raider ran to their left trying to escaped but was immediately gunned down by the marines. As they neared the rock they slowed down waiting for someone to spring up and fire. One marine quickly went to the other side of the rock and was blown back, blood exploding out of his chest. Lucas looked over the rock and saw a raider with a bloody leg clutching a sawed off, double barrel shotgun. Lucas put four rounds into his chest, ending the raiders life.

After making sure they were clear, Lucas saw that the wounded marine was already being looked at by one of the other soldiers. The turned to Lucas and shook his head slowly. Lucas nodded and turned away from the dead marine, he heard the tags being taken from the corpse. Every loss was frustrating for Lucas but it was just the way of things; and nothing could change that. He walked to the dead raiders whose bodies were filled with various shrapnel wound from the grenades. He walked to one body that was faced down and turned him over with his foot. Lucas say the raiders chest caved in a blackened by the explosion. In the heat of battle this raider through himself on the grenade to save his comrades.

Honor among thieves I guess. That, or his buddy threw him on top of it.

Lucas assumed it was the latter and turned to his troops. He could hear gunfire not that far out and new that they still had work to do.

"Okay let's move out and try to flank the rest; see if we can get them from behind."

As he reloaded his FAL, Lucas noticed Maximus approaching him. He had a dazed look on his face as if he were drunk. Something wasn't right, Maximus had been edgy the last few days but this was different. He watched the veteran sniper sit on a rock as he looked at his Colonel.

"Colonel, I need you a minute."

Lucas gave his final orders to the marine squad and walked to Maximus curiously. He had a troubled look on his face as if something were bothering him. Lucas took off his gas mask and looked at the sniper straight in the eye.

"Do I need to call a medic over here or is something else going on here? First you say that you might be leaving us and now this? You can't be like this Maximus, not during a damn battle. The only reason I'm even talking to you right now instead of pushing forward is because I need every man I can get and your one of my best. Now just tell me straight up. What is bothering you."

"Wake up Marco, c'mon, now!"

Marco opened his eyes and saw Jade lying over him. He closed them again, his thoughts drifting to a distant memory:

James handed young Marco the venetian mask.

"This is Gloria's. She didn't want it anymore, figured you may as well take care of it."

Marco blushed and chuckled. He liked Gloria. Marco was only fifteen and these feelings were new and certainly different, but Marco felt he might as well embrace them. He saw Gloria from across the camp and she was wearing nothing but a small skirt the week prior. No need to say what happened, but Marco didn't think it was in anyway weird or bad.

"Where is Gloria?" Marco asked. James laughed.

"That's my daughter, you'd better watch yourself young man."

"Yes, sir. I'll just try the school." Marco set off to the other side of the camp where the tent where kids went to specific classes was. The camp was small. The tribals didn't even name themselves, or the camp. They were simply a small group of twenty people who came across an already made camp and took it. They hunted for food, taught each other about survival, combat and weapon maintenance. They were content and safe, until a tribe known as the Salvation took interest in them. Marco didn't know much about the Salvation apart from them coming to the camp every so often.

As Marco approached the school he saw a man in a duster. One of those Salvation, Marco thought to himself. Marco didn't like them, and neither did anybody else in the camp it seemed, as Justin, the leader, would have people get rid of them when the stayed around too long. Marco looked from the Salvation to the school. Gloria was emerging from it, her blonde hair glistening in the sun. Marco took a deep sigh and walked towards her.

"Hey Gloria, I wa---" Marco's sentence was interrupted by a scream.


Marco's eyes opened and fixated on Jade.

"What's going on?" he asked feebly..

A young man ran towards an old building, he could hear sounds of dead and rumble of walking skeletons coming after him. he didn't know if these where real or not, he always saw things that looked and sounded real he just could not tell any more. a old building was ahead, gunshots sounding from the old building something was happening where raiders where. but it had to be better than letting the walking skeletons catch him.

As he neared flashes of light from weapons where everywhere, old pre vehicles stood in front of him he ran past a few armoured masked figures. he ran to one of the trucks a container on its back he pulled the door open and rushed in, he felt himself being dragged. A man with old technology had his foot, in a second he grabbed the seat with one hand and pulled out one of his needles full of radscorpion venom and drove it into the grabber’s hand. The masked man screamed his hand going limp; bashing him in the head with his foot to send the man backwards he got inside the truck closed the door. crawling behind the seat to the back row, the man jammed the needle into the seat in front drew his gun and took cover behind the other seat and began searching the back for anything of use.

After a moment of deliberation it was clear that the task of taking out the raiders would have to be his. Henry cautiously edged forward and counted the shots of the raiders. He quickly rehearsed his actions in his own mind. He would wait until most of the raiders had to reload and in that moment he would quickly spring out.

The dust from the firefight would aid in his concealment as he would dash across the short distance separating them. That would be the most dangerous moment, but if he could just get close enough then he would succeed. He was confident enough about that. The loud shots of the raiders rang out across the dusty wasteland like thunder.

Soon enough the volley of lead came to a quick halt as the raiders scrambled to reload. They had not exercised good fire discipline and now they would pay for it. Henry scrambled up and made a mad dash for the raiders. Bullets flew through the air around him but he had timed it perfectly, most of the raiders were scrambling to reload as he closed the distance.

He dove right onto the raiders and emptied his half of his magazine in a frenzy. He paused to see that he had succeeded in taking four out of six raiders, their bodies bloody and riddled with 9mm rounds. The remaining two raised their rifles to kill Henry but it was already too late for them. Henry gunned down the first one and tacked down the second raider.

It was a desperate move to avoid getting shot but he found the malnourished raider to be weaker and quickly gained the upper hand, taking the butt of his sub-machine gun and breaking the man's nose. Henry could not make himself finish the man, however. Now that Henry's life was no longer in danger he could not justify further bloodshed upon the poor man on the ground who was clutching his bloody nose and crying silently to himself.

"Get up raider, you're a prisoner now," He didn't know what the marines would do to the only surviving raider but he knew he couldn't kill this one.

Making sure that the man on the ground was secure, William turned back to the rest of the marines and radioed in, "We got them all, but I got myself a prisoner. Lets clean up the place now, over."